The organizers of Russian relief at Geneva according to the
Manchester Guardian of last. Saturday have received from one of Dr. Nansen's representatives in Russia a truly terrible account of the situation in the Buzuluk district. The people, driven to desperation by starvation, have been eating dogs, cats and carrion and there have been numerous cases of the eating of human bodies. The reports received from British workers in the Volga provinces leave no doubt that the food sent does get through to the right people. There is no justification therefore for the fear, which was reasonable enough at first, that the food would be intercepted and used by the Soviet Government for feeding the Red Army and its own supporters. As the original scheme for credits, to be granted by the British Government fell through owing to the refusal of the Soviet Government to allow the investigations which the British Government demanded, British• help for the famine area is bound to be mainly voluntary. This help, though only a small proportion of the food which is required is being supplied, has been brilliantly rendered by the humane forces of the Red Cross.
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